Damian Lillard would not lose Tuesday night.
He more than took care of it.
Lillard put up a career-high 61 points – marking another 50-point game this season – to lead the Portland Trail Blazers past the Dallas Mavericks 134-131 at Walt Disney World, bringing their hopes of postseason life to life in the process to keep.
“It’s not something I want anymore,” Lillard told Yahoo Sports’ Chris Haynes after the game. ‘I told you when I first came here, I did not come here to waste my time. They gave us the opportunity to come in as we asked, and that’s what we’re here to do … our work is not done yet, but we are fighting for it. “
Lady Time once again
Lillard’s performance on Tuesday marked the 11th 50-point game of his career, and the sixth this season alone. He also put up 51 on Sunday in their 124-121 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers, making him the first Traill Blazers player to ever have 50-point back-to-back games.
Tuesday also marked the third 60-point game for Lillard of the season. The only other player in NBA history to achieve this feat was Wilt Chamberlain.
He went 9-of-17 from the 3-point line, and even hit a crazy 3-point bucket from far beyond the arc in the fourth quarter when he picked up an enormously lucky bounce from the rim.
He was a perfect 18-of-18 from the free-go line, and has made 33 of his last 34 of the streak since missing two against the Los Angeles Clippers.
Carmelo Anthony added 26 points and eight rebounds in the win, fourth in her last five games. Kristaps Porzingis led Dallas with 36 points as he shot an impressive 7-of-9 from behind the arc. Luka Doncic finished with 25 points, and Tim Hardaway Jr. added 24.
Portland controls its own destination
The Trail Blazers started the NBA bubble well outside the eighth seed in the Western Conference, and had to climb back into controversy.
Well, thanks to the win on Tuesday, the Blazers have taken the No. 8 seed in the West and can close out a spot in the play-in series with a win on Thursday against the Brooklyn Nets. The Memphis Grizzlies – who seeded No. 8 on arrival in Florida – and undefeated Phoenix Suns are still there, while the San Antonio Spurs are just behind in fourth in this race.
“That’s the most important game of our lives,” Lillard said. “It was a great evening. We said we needed one win. We will focus on one game. We did this one, and that’s the most important one. We have to finish it well. We have to come up with the same mentality we had last night, get the job done. We control our own destiny and we know what we need to do. ”
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